Mariusz Błaszczak announced the plan after a meeting with his counterparts from dozens of Ukraine-supporting countries in Germany, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The get-together of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the 11th such meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was attended by officials from more than 40 countries, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the opening of the meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany that the United States and allies would discuss providing more air defence and ammunition for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.
Poland to provide maintenance for Ukraine’s Leopard 2 tanks
After the meeting ended, Poland’s Błaszczak told reporters: “Today, together with Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, we signed a letter of intent to create in Poland a hub to service and repair equipment transferred to Ukraine.”
He added: “It will be a facility for the maintenance of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks.”
Poland’s defence minister said he had proposed that the centre be located at the Bumar-Łabędy arms factory in the southern Polish city of Gliwice.
He told reporters that the state-run Polish arms maker “has 20 years of experience in servicing and repairing Leopard tanks, so the workforce is ready.”
Błaszczak added: “It’s obviously an opportunity for the Polish arms industry and I’m sure it will seize this opportunity.”
When asked how the maintenance hub would be financed, the Polish defence minister replied that there was “an array of options,” including the establishment of a special fund or securing financing from the European Union and the NATO alliance.
Earlier, Germany’s Pistorius told reporters that the new maintenance facility for Ukraine’s Leopard tanks would cost some EUR 150 million to EUR 200 million a year to operate, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Reznikov took to Twitter to announce the plan.
He wrote: “I am grateful to my German and Polish colleagues, Boris Pistorius and Mariusz Błaszczak, for their unwavering support for Ukraine. Today, we signed the Letter of Intent for establishment of a Maintenance and Service Center in Poland for Leopard 2 main battle tanks of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s defence minister added that the facility “will contribute to the strengthening of our cooperation and the capabilities of Ukrainian defenders.”
Tanks for Ukraine
The Leopard 2 tank is manufactured by German arms maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and is currently used by many European armies, including the Polish army and the German army, each of which has several hundred such machines, the PAP news agency reported.
Ukraine has long called for heavier weapons to bolster its war effort against the Russian invasion, Time magazine noted.
Earlier this year, after an intense debate, Kyiv’s Western allies eventually pledged to give Ukraine a battalion each of Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 tanks, the PAP news agency reported.
Germany, as the producer of the machines, gave consent for their re-export to a third country, according to PAP.
Among the international “tank coalition,” Poland promised to deliver 14 Leopard 2A4s and has already transferred the tanks to Ukraine, according to news outlets.
Meanwhile, Germany pledged to deliver Leopard 2A4s and 2A6s as well as up to 178 Leopard 1A5s, PAP reported.
Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed that “18 Leopard 2 battle tanks” had successfully been provided to Ukraine, Time magazine reported at the time.
In early April, German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall AG announced that a maintenance centre would open later this month in Romania for Ukraine’s Western military equipment, including Leopard 2 tanks, British Challenger tanks and German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, the PAP news agency reported.
In June last year, Rheinmetall AG and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann set up a similar facility in the central Lithuanian city of Jonava for machines used by the Lithuanian army as well as NATO forces stationed in the Baltic states, according to PAP.
Friday is day 422 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Ukrinform, Time